Since the beginnings of time, individuals have felt the need to defend themselves from others who might be attempting to harm them. Often a potential victim is forced to either submit to the attacker or try and defend themselves. While defending themselves an individual may use a weapon or security device to gain an advantage over a potential attacker, if they happen to be carrying a self defense device at the time of the attack. Ideally, this device will be non-lethal allowing the potential victim to escape from harm without permanently injuring the attacker.
One method of non-lethal self defense is to spray the attacker with a chemical that causes a burning or pain sensation. This chemical enters the attacker's mucous membranes and temporarily stuns the attacker, providing the potential victim much needed time to escape and reach an area of safety. During this attack it is desirable for the device to be unable to function should an attacker remove the device from the grasp of the victim.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,086 shows a canister holder for an aerosol device that is disarmed when the canister support is removed from the canister holder, but the canister support is only removable in one direction and does not provide a mechanism to adjust the removal tension. U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,359 shows a housing for holding an aerosol canister that includes a removable arming member that prevents the operation of the device upon removal of the arming member, but the arming member is only removable in one direction, can be easily armed without the use of the arming member, does not allow the user to adjust the amount of tension required to remove the arming mechanism, and will not work with a material that does not flex.
Although there are a few personal self defense devices with disarming capabilities, there is absent from the art a device that allows disarming in multiple directions and provides the user the ability to adjust the tension required to disarm the device, while at the same time offering convenience of use and ease of manufacture. In addition, a device is needed that offers a disarming feature and the ability to capture an image of an attacker to be used for identification purposes.